Behind the hatred of sin stands the beauty of holiness. Behind the wrath and retribution that condemns sin and destroys sinners is a pure beauty so precious, enthralling, gripping, alluring, that it elicits worship as awe and admiration and acclaim and fascination and submission. Behind the wrath of God stands God worthy of our praise.
Psalms 27:4 One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
Exodus 15:11 "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
Psalms 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
Psalms 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
Isaiah 33:17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Worrying vs. Believing
Worrying is the decision to anticipate suffering and then to voluntarily enter into the experience of that suffering without the grace God provides when we suffer according to his will. It is sinful disobedience and gains nothing.
Faith is hope in future grace, it is to anticipate more grace based on God’s track-record and promises that he will supply sufficient grace for whatever he calls us to actually suffer for him and then to begin to experience that grace in his provision and presence in obedience to his command to believe.
2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Matthew 6:27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Faith is hope in future grace, it is to anticipate more grace based on God’s track-record and promises that he will supply sufficient grace for whatever he calls us to actually suffer for him and then to begin to experience that grace in his provision and presence in obedience to his command to believe.
2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Matthew 6:27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Fireproof Joy
I sometimes wish I could preach an easy, happy message and tell everybody that everything is going to be ok, but the truth is far more exciting and devastating, compelling and challenging and life–giving. My constant companion this past week has been Philippians 1:29 “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”
Two things are granted: faith and suffering. Neither is easy to communicate.
It is difficult to tell people that faith itself is a granted commodity, though not granted to all, and to those it is granted – not in equal amounts. Romans 12:3 NASV …God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Our notions of equity do not square with God’s concept of justice which is fair and grace, that is even better than fair. As R.C. Sproul says in “The Holiness of God”, “God is not obligated to treat all people equally” pg. 128
Along with granting us faith, he has planned opportunities for us to engage that measure of faith in suffering. This will expand the borders of our souls, break us and cause us to cast our anxiety on him, rely on him, hope in him, be the blessed ones as we mourn, because we trust that we will be comforted.
Saying this, choosing to believe this, preparing for this, will not be easy, but somehow we must activate our faith and forge a theology of faith that thrives in the midst of pain and then live it. That is what is granted to us. A hope – a faith in grace God hasn’t given yet, that will sustain us through suffering.
Paul said - 1 Corinthians 15:19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. And in 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you.”
If you are merely trusting that Christ is going to give you a nice life here, you are not continuing in the teaching of Christ and that is our goal. 2 John 1:9 "Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son".
It was Christ who taught us we would suffer for him John 16:33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
And
Acts 9:16 "And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
Forward looking faith, Jesus focused faith, faith that produces joy that thrives in pain is fireproof Joy. Joy that flourishes in everything going well can always be taken away, but joy that draws from a source that expects pain, sees past pain, cannot be vanquished. There is something worth investing in, developing, acquiring, honing.
It is on this treasure we must set our sights. If we could grow a happiness that thrives because it expects and is prepared for suffering and sees past suffering to eternal prosperity, then we have accomplished something of great value that brings great honor to God.
Pray that God would grant all of us an increasing measure of faith that looks like this.
Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
Two things are granted: faith and suffering. Neither is easy to communicate.
It is difficult to tell people that faith itself is a granted commodity, though not granted to all, and to those it is granted – not in equal amounts. Romans 12:3 NASV …God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Our notions of equity do not square with God’s concept of justice which is fair and grace, that is even better than fair. As R.C. Sproul says in “The Holiness of God”, “God is not obligated to treat all people equally” pg. 128
Along with granting us faith, he has planned opportunities for us to engage that measure of faith in suffering. This will expand the borders of our souls, break us and cause us to cast our anxiety on him, rely on him, hope in him, be the blessed ones as we mourn, because we trust that we will be comforted.
Saying this, choosing to believe this, preparing for this, will not be easy, but somehow we must activate our faith and forge a theology of faith that thrives in the midst of pain and then live it. That is what is granted to us. A hope – a faith in grace God hasn’t given yet, that will sustain us through suffering.
Paul said - 1 Corinthians 15:19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. And in 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sufficient for you.”
If you are merely trusting that Christ is going to give you a nice life here, you are not continuing in the teaching of Christ and that is our goal. 2 John 1:9 "Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son".
It was Christ who taught us we would suffer for him John 16:33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
And
Acts 9:16 "And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
Forward looking faith, Jesus focused faith, faith that produces joy that thrives in pain is fireproof Joy. Joy that flourishes in everything going well can always be taken away, but joy that draws from a source that expects pain, sees past pain, cannot be vanquished. There is something worth investing in, developing, acquiring, honing.
It is on this treasure we must set our sights. If we could grow a happiness that thrives because it expects and is prepared for suffering and sees past suffering to eternal prosperity, then we have accomplished something of great value that brings great honor to God.
Pray that God would grant all of us an increasing measure of faith that looks like this.
Luke 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Problem with Vision-Casting
Today is my 10th anniversary of joining the staff at BCC. Actually, I was the only staff at BCC at that point. And I’m not sure exactly what the lord is saying by ordaining that this anniversary would always land on April fool’s day, but…
In order to reflect, I took time one evening this week to pour over 20 years of journaling. Amongst declarations of spiritual progress and prayers of thanks, were brutal reminders of the challenges and heartaches that God has brought me through.
I would never, in a million years, have looked forward and tried to motivate myself toward spiritual progress with such a turbulent tale of trial and test and yet this is how God’s goal of holiness is brought about. The problem with human vision-casting is that we imagine what we would like and forget how God works.
We imagine successful ministries and a full house of happy maturing church-goers, a picture that will fulfill us and satisfy us and make us content with ourselves, when from one angle, what we get is broken lives relying on stretched-thin resources in a world designed to fail in order to point us to the age when failure will be no more.
When we vision-cast, we can be like the Peter who said “This will never happen to you!” or the false prophets who only ever prophesied good, despite the punishment that was coming (See Jeremiah and Ezekiel) telling the people what they want to hear rather than maintaining God’s vision of holiness and warning of the discipline, (both corrective and strengthening) that will be required to accomplish his goals.
No one wants to hear that. We want to hear romantic notions of how everything is going to work out just fine. We would rather put our trust in these, than trust God who works out all our planned pain for his purpose, conforming us to the image of his son who also suffered. We paint marvelous expectations for ourselves and then can’t figure out why we are disappointed when our visions don’t come true. (Or when they do come true, but fail to deliver satisfaction as we imagined.)
I rejoice in the overflowing cup of blessing that God has granted in these last 20 years, the last 10 especially, but recognize that these blessings have sometimes been delivered by less than desirable means.
God use our pain and failure as well as our success and fulfilled dreams to make us holy. Accomplish in us what you envision and use our disappointments and our success to bring us to that end.
Proverbs 16:9 We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.
In order to reflect, I took time one evening this week to pour over 20 years of journaling. Amongst declarations of spiritual progress and prayers of thanks, were brutal reminders of the challenges and heartaches that God has brought me through.
I would never, in a million years, have looked forward and tried to motivate myself toward spiritual progress with such a turbulent tale of trial and test and yet this is how God’s goal of holiness is brought about. The problem with human vision-casting is that we imagine what we would like and forget how God works.
We imagine successful ministries and a full house of happy maturing church-goers, a picture that will fulfill us and satisfy us and make us content with ourselves, when from one angle, what we get is broken lives relying on stretched-thin resources in a world designed to fail in order to point us to the age when failure will be no more.
When we vision-cast, we can be like the Peter who said “This will never happen to you!” or the false prophets who only ever prophesied good, despite the punishment that was coming (See Jeremiah and Ezekiel) telling the people what they want to hear rather than maintaining God’s vision of holiness and warning of the discipline, (both corrective and strengthening) that will be required to accomplish his goals.
No one wants to hear that. We want to hear romantic notions of how everything is going to work out just fine. We would rather put our trust in these, than trust God who works out all our planned pain for his purpose, conforming us to the image of his son who also suffered. We paint marvelous expectations for ourselves and then can’t figure out why we are disappointed when our visions don’t come true. (Or when they do come true, but fail to deliver satisfaction as we imagined.)
I rejoice in the overflowing cup of blessing that God has granted in these last 20 years, the last 10 especially, but recognize that these blessings have sometimes been delivered by less than desirable means.
God use our pain and failure as well as our success and fulfilled dreams to make us holy. Accomplish in us what you envision and use our disappointments and our success to bring us to that end.
Proverbs 16:9 We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.
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